The disclosure of Japanese Patent Application No. 11-364158 filed on Dec. 22, 1999 including the specification, drawings and abstract is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a mounting structure of a center rail for guiding a slide door on the lateral face of a vehicle body.
2. Description of Related Art
Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. HEI 6-12976 discloses a mounting structure of a center rail for guiding a slide door as shown in FIGS. 4, 5. In this structure, a recess 1 is formed at the upper edge of a quarter panel QP along the opening lower edge of a quarter window QW on the lateral face of a vehicle body behind a slide door SD, and a center rail 2 is securely fitted into the recess 1. The lower edge of a window glass 7 shielding the opening of the quarter window QW is elongated further downwards than the opening lower edge of the quarter window QW to form an opaque elongation 70. The recess 1 and the center rail 2 are covered with the elongation 70 with a view to enhancing the visual attractiveness of the lateral face of the vehicle body.
A center roller 6 composed of a horizontal roller 61 and a vertical roller 62 is disposed at the end of a bracket 60 protruding from the inner face of the slide door SD. The center rail 2 is a long-extending member having a generally inverse-C-shaped cross-section corresponding to the center roller 6 and is tightly fastened to the recess 1 by means of bolts. The center rail 2 rollably guides the horizontal roller 61 with its upper part and the vertical roller 62 with its bottom part. The inner face of the elongation 70 of the window glass 7 is painted in a black coating material 71 and made opaque. A gap K ensuring the orbit of the bracket 60 of the center rail 6 is provided between a lower edge 701 of the elongation 70 and a lower edge 10 of the recess 1.
On the lateral face of the vehicle body, a belt line B1 of a front door FD, a belt line B2 of the slide door SD and the gap K are aligned continuously. Thus, the belt lines B1, B2 and the gap K constitute a rectilinear side line, whereby the gap K is made unnoticeable.
In manufacturing processes of a vehicle, for the purpose of preventing the surfaces of the vehicle body from being damaged before being painted or the chromatic difference from being generated between the vehicle body and doors or the like, the doors are mounted before the vehicle body is painted, and the vehicle body and the doors are painted altogether. For this reason, the center rail 2, which is required to mount the slide door SD, is also mounted to the vehicle body before being painted. The center rail 2 is also painted in the same color as that of the vehicle body and the slide door. Accordingly, after the vehicle has been manufactured, the lower portions of the recess 1 and the center rail 2 painted in the same color as that of the vehicle body are visible in the gap K when viewed from the outside of the vehicle. However, if a lace different in color from the vehicle body is arranged along the belt lines B1, B2 of the doors FD, SD, a sense of continuity is lost between the lace and the gap K painted in the same color as that of the vehicle body. This causes a problem of making the gap K rather conspicuous.
It is an object of the invention to provide a mounting structure of a center rail for a slide door wherein the structure is continuously aligned with belt lines of doors and chromatically identical thereto so that the visual attractiveness of the lateral face of a vehicle body can be enhanced.
In a mounting structure for a center rail of a slide door according to a first aspect of the invention, a recess extending horizontally along the lower edge of a window opening of a lateral face of a vehicle body is formed, a center rail is disposed in the recess to guide the slide door, the lower edge of a window glass shielding the window opening is elongated downwardly of the lower edge of the window opening to form an opaque elongation, and the elongation is positioned outside the recess to cover an upper part of the center rail. In this structure, the center rail is composed of two vertically divided members, namely, an upper rail member and a lower rail member. The upper rail member is securely fitted to the recess, and the lower rail member is superposed on the outside of the upper rail member or securely fitted to the recess along the lower edge of the upper rail member. It is possible to mount only one of the constituents of the center rail, that is, the upper rail member when mounting the slide door, and mount the lower rail member after the painting of the vehicle body has been carried out in a series of manufacturing processes of the vehicle. Thereby it becomes possible to paint the mounting structure in a color different from that of the vehicle body and the slide door.
The lower rail member may be mounted so as to cover a lower part of the recess located below the lower edge of the elongation of the window glass. If the lower rail member is painted in a color different from that of the vehicle body and the slide door, for example, in the same color as that of a lace arranged along the belt lines of the doors, the lower rail member and the belt lines can constitute a side line having a sense of continuity on the lateral face of the vehicle body. Thus, it is possible to enhance the visual attractiveness of the lateral face of the vehicle body.
The mounting structure of the aforementioned aspect may be constructed as follows. The slide door is provided with a center roller having a horizontal roller and a vertical roller. The upper rail member is composed of a guide having a generally inverse-U-shaped cross-section and guiding rollwise the horizontal roller and a lower end in the shape of a vertical wall extending downwardly of the guide. The lower end is tightly fastened, by means of a plurality of first bolts provided with a predetermined interval formed therebetween, to a generally vertical lateral wall of the recess. The lower rail member is composed of a horizontal flat guide guiding rollwise the vertical roller, an extension extending outwards from an outer edge of the guide to cover a lower wall of the recess, and an upper end in the shape of a vertical wall extending upwards from an inner edge of the guide. The upper end of the lower rail member is superposed on the outside of the lower end of the upper rail member to cover the first bolts provided with a predetermined interval formed therebetween, integrated with the lower end, and tightly fastened, by means of a plurality of second bolts, to the lateral wall of the recess. Thus, the number of bolts that are visible from the gap between the lower edge of the elongation of the window glass and the lower edge of the recess is reduced. This makes it possible to enhance the visual attractiveness of the lateral face of the vehicle.
The lower rail member may be provided at a plurality of positions along the longitudinal direction with protrusions protruding upwards from an upper edge of the upper end, and the upper rail member may be provided with an upper wall and a lower wall abutting on upper ends of the protrusions and a lower face of the guide of the lower rail member respectively and sandwiching them in the vertical direction. Thus, the lower rail member can be vertically positioned with respect to the upper rail member easily and precisely.
The mounting structure of the aforementioned aspect may be constructed as follows. The upper rail member and the lower rail member are respectively provided at their front ends with curvatures curving towards the interior of the vehicle. A notch is formed in the curvature of the lower rail member, and a pin is arranged in a standing manner on the curvature of the upper rail member. The curvature of the lower rail member is positioned by fitting the pin into the notch. Thus, the curvature of the lower rail member can be positioned with respect to the upper rail member and secured thereto easily and precisely.
A horizontal support supporting the vertical roller when mounting the slide door may be formed in the proximity of the front end of the upper rail member or the front end of the recess. Thus, the slide door can be stably mounted to the vehicle body before mounting the lower rail member.